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Research and studies

In the ongoing debates surrounding the metabolic syndrome, perhaps the key issue is whether this cluster of medical disorders arises from obesity or insensitivity to insulin. The lack of consensus on the principal underlying

The drastic rise in childhood obesity worldwide reflects the impact of unhealthy modern lifestyles. Over the last decade and a half, the increase of high-sugar, high-fat processed foods in our diets has combined with sedentary behaviour to radically and negatively affect the health of our societies. Initiatives are urgently required which can reduce the resulting individual and societal burden to physical and psychological health and economic development.

Indigenous Australians have poorer health than the rest of the Australian population; for Aboriginal people, life expectancy is about 20 years less than for the general population. Significantly though, the low expectation of life in Indigenous Australians is less associated with high child mortality, as occurs in many groups in developing countries; the big differences are among young to middle-aged adults.

The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) is not in the business of delivering clinical care to people with diabetes; but it is committed to the view that everyone with diabetes should benefit from the best possible care that could be available to
them. One foundation of such care is to ensure that it is based on the best possible scientific knowledge. Here we describe the approach behind the recently published IDF Global guideline for Type 2 diabetes, an evidence-based guideline designed to assist care at different levels of resources.

Recent studies have highlighted the importance of good blood glucose control in people with type 2 diabetes and emphasized the importance of reducing cardiovascular risk, particularly in relation to the control of blood pressure. However, achieving this represents a real challenge for people who live with diabetes and those who deliver diabetes care. By way of a response to the need
for improved diabetes care, the authors describe plans to initiate a peer-care model in Ireland.

The results of the Diabetes Attitudes, Wishes and Needs (DAWN) study confirmed the beliefs of many people with diabetes and health-care providers: that addressing only the physical symptoms of diabetes is not enough; to be truly effective, diabetes care must also take into account psychological issues. Nowhere was this more apparent than in Poland, where people with diabetes showed consistently higher concern for psycho-social issues than respondents in other countries. Andrzej Kokoszka reports from Poland on an award-winning educational initiative in response to these needs.

Treatment with the newly developed drug rimonabant has been found to help to reduce body weight and improve cardiovascular and metabolic risk factors. It has also been shown to help smokers to stop using tobacco without the weight gain often associated with cessation. Beat Lutz reports on the recently discovered body system that links obesity, metabolic disorders and smoking, and the potential of rimonabant as a therapeutic option to tackle these multiple cardiovascular risk factors.

The metabolic syndrome is one of the major public health issues of our time. The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) believes that this cluster of factors is driving the twin global epidemics of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. If current trends continue, the premature deaths and disabilities resulting from these conditions will cripple the health budgets of many nations – both developed and

The measurement of glycated haemoglobin (as HbA1c ) is central to diabetes care. This is the measure by which health-care providers can relate blood glucose control to the risk of complications, such as eye damage or kidney failure. However, a lack of standardization in the methods used to measure glycated haemoglobin has produced wide variations among results and is among the current